2 teens arrested in store owner’s killing some solace on the day community word of Police chief credits they bury their father, mouth for a Crime husband and staple of Stoppers tip that led FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2017 75 CENTS media, community the Manning Avenue to the arrest of Sin- SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894 community. cere Dinkins, 17, of effort leading to tip Sumter Police De- Walsh Grove and partment announced Larenzo Hagood, 19, 4 SECTIONS, 36 PAGES | VOL. 123, NO. 31 DINKINS HAGOOD BY KAYLA ROBINS two arrests in the case. of Curtis Drive in the [email protected] Sumter Police killing of Vijaykumar SPECIAL SECTION Chief Russell F. Roark III on Patel at Save-Mart Grocery on IN TODAY’S PAPER The family of the man who was Thursday at a news conference Nov. 24. gunned down inside his own busi- credited the media, his officers’ ness’ walls last week may now find efforts in distributing fliers and SEE ARRESTS, PAGE A13 A day in the life ... Church leaders share thoughts about the season D1 MICAH GREEN / THE SUMTER ITEM Lefford Fate takes questions from Stephanie Joye’s kindergarten class on Thursday. Fate served as principal for a day at CLARENDON SUN Alice Drive Elementary School. Sheriff’s office will Professionals from different occupations take host active-shooter part in district’s Principal for the Day program training for churches A10 BY BRUCE MILLS stepped into a classroom in a long [email protected] time, and most said they walked away excited by what they saw. ommunity leaders from Lefford Fate, support services di- rector with the City of Sumter, vis- Have an old bike in your various fields had the ited Alice Drive Elementary School shed? Donate it A2 opportunity to walk a and Principal Suzanna Foley. He C got to see Promethean boards and mile in the shoes of a principal Chromebooks on display and in Thursday through Sumter use and said he was pleased with DEATHS, B5 his visit with the students, teach- School District’s annual Prin- ers and staff. Carter Jean Frierson cipal for the Day program. “I met a lot of kids who are very Shirley M. Allen bright, articulate and polite,” Fate Jo Ellen C. Brooks Twenty-six professionals from said. “You hear a lot of negative Charles E. Bennett local businesses and industries, stuff about kids today, but these Janet Ann B. Meyer the military, law enforcement, the were great kids, and it was a lot of state Legislature and other fields fun. The teachers were happy and participated in the seventh-annual working hard, and it wasn’t fake.” WEATHER, A14 event, which offers a unique A former command chief in the BRUCE MILLS / THE SUMTER ITEM hands-on opportunity to see both 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air POSSIBLY RAINY Tracy Harrington of Continental Tire the strengths and challenges of the Force Base, Fate said he was Times of clouds and sun; mostly cloudy the Americas looks on Thursday as district and helps to forge commu- amazed when he heard of many with a shower tonight possible eighth-grader Nikole Weeden solves nity partnerships, according to dis- kids’ favorite subjects in school. HIGH 69, LOW 47 problems in a math class at Hillcrest trict staff. Middle School in Dalzell. Many leaders said they hadn’t SEE PRINCIPALS, PAGE A13 INSIDE CONTACT US Classifieds B6 Info: 774-1200 Comics C6 Advertising: 774-1237 Opinion A5 Classifieds: 774-1200 Army probes criticism of Green Beret training Sports B1 Delivery: 774-1258 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Ar- swath of the Army’s Special Forces cated at Fort Bragg, North Caroli- Television C4 News and Sports: my’s Special Warfare Center and community. The nearly 6,300-word na, on Thursday defended the pro- 774-1226 School has launched an investiga- message declared that the school’s cess for selecting Green Berets and tion into an anonymous email that senior officers and enlisted leaders rejected a number of the claims in accused its leaders of “moral cow- are primarily interested in advanc- the email. He said he stands firmly VISIT US ONLINE AT the .com ardice” for ditching training stan- ing their careers by meeting de- behind the “quality of every sol- dards and allowing undeserving mands for greater numbers of dier we are sending to the opera- soldiers to become members of Green Berets and enforcing “politi- tional force,” in a statement deliv- elite Green Beret teams. cal agendas.” ered to “men and women” of the The sharply critical message was Maj. Gen. Kurt Sonntag, com- sent earlier this week to a wide manding general of the school lo- SEE TRAINING, PAGE A13 OUR TRADITION 41 E. Wesmark Blvd. • Sumter, SC 778-1031 Fine Jewelry for 37 Years We guarantee to save you money! If you didn’t buy from us, you paid too much! A2 | FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2017 THE SUMTER ITEM Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: [email protected] LOCAL BRIEFS FROM STAFF REPORTS Congressional Gold Medal to be awarded The Lincoln High School Preservation Society will host a ceremony at 11 a.m. Satur- day at the school, 26 Council St., to present a Congressional Gold Medal to the family of the late John Paul Wright, who was a U.S. Marine from June 30, 1943, through WRIGHT Feb. 20, 1946. The public is invited to attend. Wright, a Sumter native, was a member of the Montford Point Marines, a segregated unit to train marines of Afri- can-American descent. In 2012, the U.S. Congress awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to those Montford Point Marines or their family PHOTOS BY ADRIENNE SARVIS members. Wright was not in- May Baird, standing, thanks Senior Investigator Jennifer Thomas of Sumter County Sheriff’s Office for returning her son’s golf cart after cluded in the list at that time. it was stolen on Thanksgiving. Baird’s son saved his money for seven years to purchase the golf cart. Accepting the medal for Wright will be his sister, Mar- garet Davis, a former board member of Sumter School Dis- Christmas comes early for Sumter family trict No. 17. For more information, call James Felder at (803) 261-0167 or Gloria Neal Showers at (803) when son’s stolen golf cart is returned 905-3289. BY ADRIENNE SARVIS Senior Investigator Jennifer Thomas, Sumter man dies in [email protected] with Sumter County Sheriff's Office, wreck on U.S. 521 said it was not difficult to identify the On Tuesday, a local family rolled into stolen golf cart because of its custom A 36-year-old Sumter man the holiday spirit when Sumter County upholstery and paint job — Carolina died during a single-vehicle Sheriff's Office investigators returned Panthers colors. She recognized the wreck on U.S. 521 on Thurs- their golf cart after it was stolen on golf cart as one stolen from Sumter day afternoon. Thanksgiving. County while working with an investi- The deceased has been May Baird said her son Tait Heffer- gator in Lexington County. identified as Joshua Neville, nan, 23, is non-verbal and was diag- Thomas remembered reading a local according to Sumter County nosed with autism at a young age. incident report about a stolen golf cart Coroner's Office. Riding in the golf cart gives Tait lei- matching one that was photographed Neville was pronounced sure entertainment, she said. by Lexington investigators. dead at Palmetto Health Tu- The family rode in the golf cart mul- After identifying the golf cart, Thom- omey. tiple times a day, every day, until as and Investigator Nelson Rosario — South Carolina Highway Thanksgiving. also with Sumter County Sheriff's Of- Patrol is investigating the The family went outside that Thurs- Baird hugs Investigator Thomas. fice — retrieved the golf cart from Lex- wreck, and an autopsy is day morning expecting to go on a ride ington. scheduled for today in New- and saw that the golf cart was gone. suspects "cased" the neighborhood, Thomas and Rosario then took the berry. Tait saved his money for seven years spotted the golf cart and returned to vehicle to East Coast Scooter on to purchase the golf cart, and it was take it the night before or the morning Broad Street in Sumter where the taken not more than two months later, of Thanksgiving. store owner changed the ignition she said. When the golf cart was reported sto- switch and provided new keys, free of He loves to ride in the car and listen len, Baird and her family received help charge. CORRECTION to music, and the golf cart allows him from the owner of Ricochet Custom Tait had undergone a medical pro- If you see a statement in error, to do that in a more cost efficient way, Golf Carts — the Columbia store where cedure on Tuesday morning and contact the City Desk at 774-1226 or she said. the golf cart was purchased — who missed the initial surprise, but Baird [email protected]. Baird said the incident is concerning called around about the theft. He was assured the investigators that he for her family because it means the very helpful, she said. would be excited when he saw it later. Donate a bicycle or tricycle to make a child’s holiday bright more than 3,500 “like new” bi- bike repair days are sched- Bike repair days cycles being provided to chil- uled: from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sat- dren since 1997. He said orga- urdays, Dec. 2 and 9, at 926 set for Dec.